Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 28 - 27 - Store.

After who knows how long, Raven's eyelids twitched.

A second later, with a sharp breath, he blinked awake.

The first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling—a plain white stone surface with faint carvings that almost looked like flowers.

'...Where the hell am I?'

Without thinking much, he tried to sit up—

—Which turned out to be a bad idea.

"Ghh!"

His body screamed in protest. Every muscle, every tendon, every tiny cell seemed to unite in an orchestra of betrayal.

'What the f...?' He gritted his teeth and stayed still for a second, letting the pain ease just enough so he didn't pass out again.

Then slowly, he recalled everything.

The battlefield.

The corrupted beast.

The blood.

The claw through his gut.

The whistle.

The instructors.

And the dramatic last-second save.

A slow, wide grin spread across his face.

'Heh. I totally nailed it.'

The thought of it pumped fresh energy into his battered body.

He had successfully done what he had aimed for. He had made himself look competent and strong without making himself look monstrous.

After all, he could've killed the beast if he had wanted to, his soul power wasn't for display, but he didn't.

Doing so wouldn't make him look like a hero but a monster—something he didn't prefer.

Above all, he was sure some members of his family, most likely Damien, would notice his soul power and make this whole thing a mess, so he avoided using it.

More importantly—the system!

If there was ever a jackpot moment, it had to be this one.

He had saved the entire damn batch from death! There better be some god-level reward waiting for him!

Mentally shouting, he pulled up the system screen.

—

[Plot Points Gained: +1200]

[Current Total: 9905 Plot Points]

—

...

...

He stared at the numbers.

Then stared some more.

He blinked.

Then again.

'ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED?!'

His fingers twitched as he grabbed a handful of his blanket, face twitching violently.

'That's it?! That's all I get for getting a hole punched through my torso and playing Meat Shield?! I almost DIED out there, you stingy piece of cosmic garbage!!!'

If he could scream without coughing blood, he would have.

But after a full five seconds of silent inward protest that would've made a whole theater applaud, Raven let out a breath and slumped back against the pillow.

'Calm down, calm down. At least the total's 9905.'

He stared at the number again and, despite everything, felt a little surge of triumph.

Just a little more—less than a hundred—and the mysterious [Trade Function] would unlock.

And that... was something he'd been looking forward to for a while now.

After all, anything locked behind such a big milestone had to be absurdly good... right?

'Please be something awesome,' he prayed to the indifferent heavens.

Still riding the wave of cautious optimism, he suddenly remembered something else.

Today's store refresh!

His store function, which, unlike normal stores, was a luck-dependent daily shop, would refresh every day, displaying new items or skills.

He rarely got something good out of it, but hope was always there.

Maybe something good would pop up—was what he always thought.

With his eyes flashing with excitement, he opened the store page.

At the very top, in bold red letters, the countdown ticked away:

[Store Refresh: 10:12:45 Remaining]

Raven frowned slightly, doing quick math and calculating the time since he knew the store refresh time was midnight.

'So about ten hours left until midnight. It must be around 2 PM right now. Damn, I slept forever.'

Shrugging mentally, he turned his attention to the items displayed.

The first one was...

[Minor Healing Potion] – 20 Plot Points.

'Pfft. Garbage.'

Next—

[Stamina Booster (Temporary)] – 100 Plot Points.

'Garbage, but fancier.'

And next—

[Beginner's Luck Charm (One-Time Use)] – 500 Plot Points.

He stared.

He blinked.

'Who the hell would waste 500 points for a one-time luck sticker?! Is this a scam shop?!'

Suppressing the urge to flip his own system panel, Raven scrolled further, ready to be disappointed into oblivion as this was what always happened—

—and then he saw it.

At the bottom of the list.

Glowing faintly almost like it was shy.

[Elemental Sword (Skill) (Heroic)] – 4000 Plot Points.

His eyes widened.

In a flash, he tapped it open.

.....

[Elemental Sword]

— A sword skill allowing the user to harmonize with elemental fields temporarily.

— Sub-skills included:

– Fire Zone: Imbues weapons with flame, creating explosive strikes. 'Lingering burn' effect added.

– Earth Zone: Reinforces strikes with heavy, crushing force. 'Slow' effect added.

– Wind Zone: Increases speed and cutting precision drastically. 'Disrupt' effect added.

– Water Zone: Grants fluid movement and adaptive parrying techniques. 'Evasion' effect added.

.....

Raven stared at it.

The longer he stared, the more he could feel his inner sword nerd geeking out.

'Damn... That's actually... good. No, that's crazy good!'

The sheer versatility alone—offense, defense, speed boosts, adaptability—was like a dream.

He could already picture himself dashing through enemies like a mini-typhoon, fire exploding behind him, earth shaking under his feet—

He gritted his teeth and squeezed his bedsheets in frustration.

'I want it.'

His fingers twitched toward the purchase button.

But—

His eyes darted to the top right corner where his total plot points gleamed: 9905.

'Just ninety-five more points... If I buy this now, I'll fall back to 5905... and who knows what the Trade Function could offer? It could be a legendary bloodline or some ultimate martial secret!'

He stared at the [Buy] button.

Then at the [Plot Points].

Then at the [Buy] button again.

His entire soul was locked in an epic internal battle of Desire vs Patience.

Finally—he slapped his own thigh.

Mentally, of course.

'Control yourself, damn it!!'

With a defeated sigh that only existed in the world inside his head, Raven closed the shop page.

He leaned back against the soft, fluffy pillow, staring at the ceiling again.

On the outside, he remained a motionless, brooding patient.

On the inside?

He was a warrior who had fought—and barely survived—the ultimate battle against impulse shopping.

It was then, with everything done, that he finally muttered out loud, "Where the hell am I anyway?"

But the moment he did, a voice answered, so casually that it almost felt like an extra line in a conversation he'd forgotten he was having.

"Hah! Now you ask?" The voice drawled. "After all that shuffling, twitching, face-wrinkling, and dramatic sighing, like you were fighting off constipation?"

Raven froze.

No—freezing wasn't the right word.

Every muscle in his already wrecked body locked up like a snapped chain.

Slowly, mechanically, as if he was turning to face the eldritch horror itself, Raven turned his head.

Sitting right there beside his bed, arms lazily crossed and one foot casually propped up on the edge of his chair, was an old man.

White and black hair stuck out like a badly made bird's nest, and his patched-up robes looked like a quilt someone had lost a fight with.

He had a wide and toothy smile, looking at Raven like a grandfather spotting a naughty child sneaking cookies at midnight.

Reven's horror didn't stop there.

He—a guy who could sense a mosquito breathe across a room—hadn't felt this guy's presence at all.

Not a whisper of aura.

Not a wisp of killing intent.

Not even the faintest disturbance in the air.

It was like he'd always been there... like part of the damn furniture.

Internally, Raven screamed.

Externally, his face twitched into a perfect mask of horror, confusion, and something that said, 'I'm about to crawl out of my own skin.'

The old man chuckled at his reaction, leaning in with a sparkle of mischief in his eye.

"Kid," he said, slapping a heavy hand onto Raven's frozen shoulder, "if the enemy were half as slow on the uptake as you, this whole continent would've been conquered by aggressive squirrels by now."

Raven didn't understand anything, but he could instinctively tell that nothing good would come out if he stayed close to this old man.

It wasn't that the old man felt dangerous—far from it.

It was just that Raven, after living with world-class unique people, could easily tell one thing: this old man... was a class ahead of those three.

This old man had more than one screw loose in his head.